Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2024 February 9

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February 9

General Wikipedia changes

Hi,

I noticed earlier today that a few things look different on the Wikipedia site.

For instance, my watchlist. Article and talk page titles used to be blue (and they show that way for a second, but then it changes to black). In addition, the "last updated" note no longer shows on the watchlist itself; I have to go to the page for it to show.

Lastly, I have noticed that when viewing an article some wikilinks no longer render in blue; they are all black, making it more difficult to tell article text from wikilinks.

Is there any way to change the settings back?

Thanks for any help, David O. Johnson (talk) 02:28, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

@David O. Johnson: The black link problem on mobile is a bug that the developers are working on. RudolfRed (talk) 02:36, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

Thank you. David O. Johnson (talk) 02:52, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

Largest Vegan Population

Which country has the largest vegan population? Citygrownrose (talk) 03:33, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

Welcome, Citygrownrose, to a page that conspicuously announces: "Welcome—ask questions about how to use or edit Wikipedia!" Your question is different. You might try WP:REFD. -- Hoary (talk) 04:17, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

There are 70 million sheep and 28 million cattle in Australia. Shantavira|^{feed me} 16:57, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

Visited links are now black instead of purple

For some reason on all my mobile devices (Android phone and Android tablet) links that I already clicked on are black instead of purple. Does anyone else have this issue? How do I fix it? BillyBob42069 (talk) 04:42, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

See the query General Wikipedia changes above. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.199.107.217 (talk) 06:11, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

Two articles in the Greek-language WP for Smog

Hello! When I click the link among the foreign languages for Smog for the Greek-language Wikipedia's article, I'm taken to the article for so-called winter smog (el:Αιθαλομίχλη) but there is a separate article for so-called summer smog (el:Φωτοχημικό νέφος). Is there a way to add two links to one foreign language Wikipedia? —71.105.243.101 (talk) 06:20, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

Yes, it is possible, though it bypasses the usual mechanism for inter-language links (through Wikidata), so it should only be done with a strong justification. See WP:LOCALLINK. ColinFine (talk) 10:50, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

Should these histories be merged?

I recently re-created and submitted Nicôle Lecky, which has a bit of a troubled past, WP:PAID-stuff , WP:COPYPASTE, etc. So now there are 2 edit-histories, [1] and [2]. Would it be better if these are merged, or is it good enough to leave as-is? And if they should be merged, can someone please do that? Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 10:39, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

Ping @PrimeHunter, if you feel like having an opinion. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 10:01, 11 February 2024 (UTC)

Edit template on Meta

I wish to add links on languages in "Language (local)" column on https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:List_of_wikis_by_project. Is there any chance to add? How to edit that template? 2001:B07:6442:8903:10B0:936E:5DE0:8B20 (talk) 10:59, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

Where do you want the links to go? If you want an article in that wiki about the wiki's language then it would be very difficult with the way the table is generated. Individual entries cannot be edited currently, only the code to generate the rows. The code is complicated and it doesn't have access to the data needed for my guess about what you want. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:32, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

Pop up gates

Pow many big cities have constructed pop up gates to hem in city population?

IP editor, this page is for "questions about how to use or edit Wikipedia!" You could try the reference desk at WP:REFD. TSventon (talk) 14:02, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

Adding cause of death in intro

Isnt it possible to include the cause of death of an individual in the introduction of the article? Even if the individual is semi-legendary, there are WP:RS available regarding their cause of death. Imperial^[AFCND] 14:17, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

@ImperialAficionado, it's certainly possible, but cause of death may not always be important/relevant enough to warrant a place in the lead. You should discuss the matter on the talk page if there is disagreement. 57.140.16.1 (talk) 15:25, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

MOS:NUMERAL in Wikipedia

It consistently ranks as 5th most visited website to fifth most visited website to comply with the set of rules. 2001:EE0:4BC4:4240:A056:A894:2B9B:12DA (talk) 14:47, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

What's the context here? Lee Vilenski ^{(talk • contribs)} 15:06, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

@Lee Vilenski, and as of 2024, it is ranked the 5th most visited website on the Internet by Semrush. That's it. 2001:EE0:4BC4:4240:71D2:A29:A5C4:100E (talk) 15:13, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

No, I mean, where is that posted? If we are talking about the main page, lots of policies don't apply to that. Lee Vilenski ^{(talk • contribs)} 15:14, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

It seems to be at Wikipedia. IP editor, if an article is protected, you should use the talk page to make edit requests. 57.140.16.1 (talk) 15:20, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

Now we finally know what the OP is talking about, I've changed "5th" to "fifth", as per MOS:NUMERAL. Bazza (talk) 20:06, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

None of the articles you linked says it's the "5th". Either fix it yourself or leave an edit request. Shantavira|^{feed me} 16:05, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

It's about the opening paragraph of the article Wikipedia. The source [3] says "5" in a numbered list and we sometimes follow the source but I don't think we should do it here when we display a single rank in running text. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:10, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

Page is not auto-generating a table of contents

I'm working on a page that has seven sections. According to Wikipedia, a Table of Contents should have been automatically generated when it had three or more sections, but it has not. I also tried manually adding the __TOC__ code to the page. Nothing.

This is the page. I would appreciate any help you can offer! Bethduval (talk) 16:21, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

@Bethduval: If you have the default skin "Vector (2022)" at Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-rendering then the TOC is to the left, and may be hidden on a list icon to the left of the page heading. If you have other skins then the TOC is displayed before the first section heading. Both systems work for me on Business simulation. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:48, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

You're right! How weird. So if someone is just browsing without an account, will they not see the TOC on any page? I feel like I've seen them on other pages when I'm not logged in. Bethduval (talk) 16:59, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

@Bethduval: After clicking the icon you can click "move to sidebar". It's supposed to remember your choice, and it's supposed to start in the sidebar where it has a "hide" link. Maybe you accidentally clicked that earlier. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:06, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

How to find a citation when 'Reflist' has been used?

Hello. I haven't yet braved Reflist so don't know how it works. I am trying to add extra citations to This Is How It Feels, but the details are seemingly hidden and it just Reflist. Is there a way to get at them? I'm keen to learn about them, so maybe today is that day. Thank you BJCHK (talk) 16:50, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

@BJCHK: Reference text is usually (not always) defined where the reference is used and not where it's displayed. Click '^' (or sometimes a small letter) next to the reference to see where it's used. See more at Help:Referencing for beginners. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:02, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

How do I save my work write up in my account? Please.

I have composed my bio in Wikipedia. How do I save my work for later editing? Please. BosnCatskill52 (talk) 20:47, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

It appears you wrote your bio on your user page, though that is not article or draft space. Please use the Article Wizard to create a draft. Wikipedia is not a place for people to tell the world about themselves, see the autobiography policy. Wikipedia articles summarize what independent reliable sources say about topics that are notable as defined by Wikipedia. 331dot (talk) 20:57, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

It was just moved to draft space. 331dot (talk) 20:58, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

BosnCatskill52, articles consist of paragraphs, paragraphs consist of sentences, and sentences consist of declarative clauses. A declarative clause consists of a subject and a predicate, and expresses a proposition. Propositions are referenced to what Wikipedia considers reliable sources. Material such as (I quote) Upon Co's Request. Reassigned to the USS Vancouver LPD-2 from 1983 to 1986 July. Duty was outstanding. Nothing lasts Forever. does not qualify. -- Hoary (talk) 08:40, 10 February 2024 (UTC)

Eponymous references

In the Rate center article, we find:

"For instance, BUtterfield 8 (+1-212-288-xxxx) identifies a specific office (CLLI code NYCMNY79DS1, Verizon's building at 208 E 79th St, New York NY) as its default wire center but identifies "New York City, Zone 1" as a rate center."

The link to the 'BUtterfield 8' article is for the eponymous movie, which while having a small section dedicated to explaining its title, is not an article detailing the block of directory numbers captured by BUtterfield 8 (that is, the +1-212-288-xxxx block).

It is a pretty trivial matter, but I am wondering if any wiki-heads can weigh in on this syntax. My thought was to modify the sentence like so:

"For instance, the number block 'BUtterfield 8' corresponding to +1-212-288-xxxx (referenced in the film BUtterfield 8) identifies a specific..."

but I worry I am introducing unnecessary repetition in service of readability. A curt 'get over it' would be a fine response to this question :) Tule-hog (talk) 22:54, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

I've removed the wikilink. The film is not what the text is referring to, so it's misleading. It was probably added by mistake. Popcornfud (talk) 23:45, 9 February 2024 (UTC)